'85% of that movie is Natalie'

25/03/2011

Natalie Portman won a Best Actress Oscar for Black Swan, the movie in which she depicted a ballerina in the throws of a mental breakdown, precipitated by playing both the Black and White roles in Swan Lake. However, the plaudits have not stopped people from gossiping that Portman had two body doubles who danced some of the more challenging ballet scenes. But Natalie's fiance, choreographer Benjamin Millepied has leapt to her defence.

The brilliantly named Millepied told the press, 'It was so believable, it was fantastic, that beautiful movement quality. There are articles now talking about her dance double that are making it sound like [her body double] did a lot of the work, but really, she just did the footwork, and the fouettés, and one diagonal phrase in the studio. Honestly, 85 per cent of that movie is Natalie. [I made] things fluid and not too complicated.'